Black Heart is Great
by Nepugia
Summary: "Driver, take me to the heart of Planeptune."


The Conquest. That is what our circle refers to the great unification of Gamindustri under Lady Purple Sister.

The taxi that I was in cruised down the streets of Planeptune, the great capital. The sweltering sun beat down on the city. The heat reflected off of the overly shiny and silvery buildings, cooking the air, turning the city into a massive oven.

I questioned the detestable design of the capital's infrastructure. I suppose that the silicon shininess was chosen to show off Planeptune's purple progress. Yet, it was too gaudy, too pompous. Lastation's down-to-earth mechanic pragmatism was far more comforting to me.

I called out to the driver, "Hey, turn up that AC. My goddess, this damn city gets too freaking hot."

The driver gave me a brief look of exasperation before putting his eyes back on the road.

"It wouldn't be so hot for you if you weren't wearing that overblown coat of yours," remarked the driver.

Indeed, a heavy trench coat covered my body almost fully from the neck down to my knees. It bulged out in places, making me look obese, despite having undertaken Lastation's strict training regimen.

I merely shrugged. The driver didn't comment on my coat any further.

I tugged at my collar. Parts of my clothes, glued to my body by sweet, peeled off of my skin.

There wasn't much left for me to do. I had settled it all before coming here. Hell, I didn't even have a smartphone with me. It would be too dangerous, anyway. Although, fearing danger at this point was rather ironic.

But, hell, it really was too boring just sitting here, melting in the heat, not having a thing to do or to think about. Perhaps I'll humour myself for a bit with the old man behind the wheel.

"Uh, so, where ya from?"

Oh crap, that was a stupid thing to say. A Planeptune taxi driver would obviously be from Planeptune. As well, it would have been normal for him to ask me that question instead of the other way around.

"Lastation," he muttered, "Well, I live here now, but I came from Lastation."

I reflexively turned towards him. I was not expecting that kind of answer.

"Well, what a coincidence. Me too."

On the dashboard of the taxi was a GPS showing directions to my destination, Planeptune Square, as well as other info like estimated time to arrival. Ahead, the GPS suggested the driver to turn left on Genesis Street. The driver ignored the directions, turning right instead, and taking other roads. The route was recalculated, and the new estimated time to arrival was significantly reduced compared to before.

"So you're an immigrant, huh," I said with a frown, "Well, you must've been around here for a long time. That is, maybe even before—"

"No, I got here after the unification," he interjected.

Now that was even more unexpected.

"That's rather brave of you, heading straight into the heart of the demon's lair like that," I said while shrugging, "Or maybe you were suicidal."

"Fuck off. I had no choice because Purple Shitter throwing our nation into the dumpster forced me to go elsewhere to get a job," blasted the driver.

Language. Language. A guy on the job shouldn't be talking like that to his dear customer.

I could sympathize with him though. I don't know how exactly Lastation's instability killed off his old job, but Purple Sister's actions directly killed off mine. The dead need no bodyguards.

"So, what's it like sleeping in the lion's den?" I asked.

"Nothing. Literally nothing. This land is as progressive as it tells itself it is. Her citizens suck on my teats even if I am a man, and they hate themselves for being the dominant force in Gamindustri. Fools, the lot of them."

"Well ain't that great," I said with a vicious smile, "You can do whatever the hell you want and no one will bat an eyelid just 'cause."

"It's embarrassing," he bluntly said, "Living among these weaklings makes me wish that Black Heart had taken Purple Shitter's head."

"Well, you're just a complacent weakling now, too."

"Shut up."

Our nation was as strong as our leader. Lady Black Heart worked tirelessly to unite our nation and to push our nation into become a powerful workhorse. We toiled, we built, and we fought. Even when our goddess was whisked away, I believe that our nation stood on its own the sturdiest out of all of the others. When she returned, we rejoiced.

Then, the accursed goddess slew our beloved goddess, not even leaving behind a corpse.

"Lastation's the only home for me," said the driver with finality.

I nodded, "Me too."

The driver pulled into the parking lot of the popular mall at Planeptune Square. My payment was five-hundred-thousand credits. I expected it, given how long the drive was. I was prepared to pay for it.

As if remembering common taxi driver courtesy, the driver asked me, "So, where are you headed off to from here?"

I looked around. A giant, dense crowd of people was roaming around, with most of the people entering the mall. It was as I had expected, given that today was the release date of the N-Gear Mk2.

"I'm off to do what I have to do. But you know, if you go back to where I was before, I have a friend who needs a ride too."

"Oh really?" said the driver in feigned surprise, "Well, I guess I better head on over there."

I left the vehicle with naught but the heavy clothes on my back. I sat on a nearby bench and watched the taxi head off. I waited and waited and waited until I was sure that the taxi was five-hundred-thousand credits of distance away.

The complacent enemy, the progressive subjects of the tyrant Purple Sister gathered en masse in a rush to grab Planeptune's latest technology, in their lust for luxury.

There wasn't a single thing great about Planeptune.

Yet, Planeptune removed greatness from Lastation.

I stood up and headed into the crowd. I stood still, against the stream of people, forcing them to nudge past me if they wanted to get through.

"Black Heart is great."

Not a single soul paid attention.

"Black Heart is great!"

A child piggybacking on a man turned his curious eyes in my direction. A woman glued to her phone lifted her eyes from the screen. I got some attention.

I unzipped the front of my heavy jacket made thick with dynamite. I immediately lit the fuses.

"Black Heart is great!"

The tenor of explosions blew through my ear drums. A soprano of screams reverberated like the completion of a cadence.


End file.
